U.S. patent number 5,389,095 [Application Number 08/098,701] was granted by the patent office on 1995-02-14 for suspended absorbent diaper article.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Paragon Trade Brands, Inc.. Invention is credited to Hiroaki Fukui, Migaku Suzuki.
United States Patent |
5,389,095 |
Suzuki , et al. |
February 14, 1995 |
Suspended absorbent diaper article
Abstract
An absorbent article is disclosed comprising a liquid
impermeable outer cover having a front section and a rear section,
and an elongated absorbent element having a front end, a rear end
and opposite side edges and including an absorbent material. The
elongated absorbent element is supported at its front and rear ends
on the outer cover in a suspended manner to extend longitudinally
between the front and rear sections of the outer cover for spacing
the opposite side edges from the outer cover. The elongated
absorbent element further includes an elastic element so as to be
elastically stretchable and contractable relative to the outer
cover.
Inventors: |
Suzuki; Migaku (Kanagawa,
JP), Fukui; Hiroaki (Saitama, JP) |
Assignee: |
Paragon Trade Brands, Inc.
(Federal Way, WA)
|
Family
ID: |
22270534 |
Appl.
No.: |
08/098,701 |
Filed: |
July 28, 1993 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
604/385.22 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A61F
13/49009 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A61F
13/15 (20060101); A61F 013/15 () |
Field of
Search: |
;604/385.1,385.2 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
|
|
|
4710187 |
December 1987 |
Boland et al. |
4842596 |
June 1989 |
Kielpikowski et al. |
5037416 |
August 1991 |
Allen et al. |
|
Foreign Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Kruter; Jerome L.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Dressler, Goldsmith, Shore &
Milnamow, Ltd.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. An absorbent article comprising:
a liquid impermeable outer cover having a front section and a rear
section, and a central section between said front section and said
rear section;
an elongated absorbent element having a front end, a rear end and
opposite side edges and including an absorbent material, said
elongated element being supported at said front and rear ends
thereof on said outer cover in a suspended manner to extend
longitudinally between said front and rear sections of the outer
cover for spacing a suspended portion of said elongated absorbent
element, including said absorbent material between said front and
rear ends thereof, from said central section of said outer cover,
said elongated element further including elastic material so that
said suspended portion of said elongated absorbent element is
elastically stretchable and contractible relative to the outer
cover so that said elongated absorbent element is urged toward a
crotch area of a wearer of said article.
2. The absorbent article of claim 1, wherein
said elastic material comprises a continuous elastic sheet
supported between said front and rear sections of the outer
cover.
3. The absorbent article of claim 2, wherein
said elongated element further includes a liquid permeable facing
sheet, said facing sheet being intermittently secured to said
elastic sheet to form a plurality of channels therebetween, said
absorbent material being placed in selected ones of said
channels.
4. The absorbent article of claim 3, wherein
said facing sheet is secured to said elastic sheet through
longitudinally spaced, parallel lines of securement for forming the
plurality of laterally- extending, parallel channels.
5. The absorbent article of claim 4, wherein
said absorbent material is placed in the channels in a middle
portion of the elongated element.
6. The absorbent article of claim 3, wherein said selected ones of
the channels have a cross-sectional area greater than that of the
remaining channels.
7. The absorbent article of claim 1, wherein
one of said front and rear ends of the elongated element is secured
to said outer cover by a continuous lateral line of securement.
8. The absorbent article of claim 1, wherein
one of said front and rear ends of the elongated element is secured
to said outer cover by intermittent lateral line of securement.
9. The absorbent article of claim 1, wherein
said outer cover comprises an elastically stretchable material.
10. The absorbent article of claim 1, wherein
said absorbent material comprises superabsorbent material.
11. An absorbent article comprising:
a liquid impermeable outer cover having a front section and a rear
section, and a central section between said front section and said
rear section;
an elongated absorbent member having a front end, a rear end and
opposite side edges and including an absorbent material;
front and rear support members for respectively joining said
respective front and rear ends of the absorbent member to said
outer cover, so that the absorbent member extends longitudinally in
a suspended manner between said front and rear sections of the
outer cover for spacing a suspended portion of said elongated
member, including said absorbent material, between said front and
rear support members from said central section of said outer cover,
at least one of said front and rear support members being
elastically stretchable and contractible.
12. The absorbent article of claim 11, wherein said front support
member is elastically stretchable and contractable.
13. The absorbent article of claim 11, wherein said front and rear
support members are both elastically stretchable and
contractable.
14. The absorbent article of claim 11, wherein one of said front
and rear support members is liquid impermeable.
15. The absorbent article of claim 11, wherein said elastically
stretchable support member includes a plurality of parallel slits
respectively extending longitudinally from a longitudinal end
thereof to form a plurality of lips separated thereby, each of said
lips being secured to the outer cover by a spot of securement.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention generally relates to absorbent articles such
as infant or adult diapers, and more particularly to the absorbent
article incorporating an absorbent member in a suspended manner
therein.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The disposable absorbent articles, such as infant or adult
disposable diapers, are generally categorized into two types; a
closed-type article such as a training pant, arid an open-type
article having a flat configuration which includes front crotch and
rear sections. Either of those absorbent articles typically
comprises a liquid impermeable backsheet, a liquid permeable
topsheet, and an absorbent core interposed therebetween, and are
designed to effectively absorb and retain waste materials.
However, one drawback of such conventional integral absorbent
articles is that they tend to be displaced away from a wearer's
body by movement thereof. The displacement creates a space between
the body and the absorbent article through which the waste
materials leak. As a result, the desired absorbency of the
absorbent core can not be fully utilized.
One attempt to overcome such drawback is illustrated in Japanese
Kokai Patent No. Hei 3-202056. The Kokai patent proposes an
absorbent article having a liquid impermeable stretchable topsheet
with an aperture. A void space is provided between top and back
sheets to improve conformability of the top sheet to the wearer's
body and also to receive the waste materials therein which have
passed through the aperture in the top sheet. This arrangement does
not provide a better conformability of the absorbent core to the
wearer's body since the topsheet is urged away from the absorbent
core.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an absorbent
article which is able to accommodate the body movement of a wearer
for providing continuous conformity of an absorbent member to the
wearer's body.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An absorbent article in accordance with the present invention
comprises a liquid impermeable outer cover having a front section
and a rear section, and an elongated element having a front end, a
rear end and opposite side edges, and including an absorbent
material. The elongated element is supported at the front and rear
ends thereof on the outer cover in a suspended manner to extend
longitudinally between the front and rear sections of the outer
cover for spacing the opposite side edges from the outer cover. The
elongated element further includes elastic material so as to be
elastically stretchable and contractable relative to the outer
cover.
In a particular embodiment of the present invention, the elongated
element comprises a liquid permeable facing sheet, and a liquid
impermeable elastic backing sheet intermittently secured to the
facing sheet to form a plurality of channels therebetween. The
absorbent material may be placed in selected ones of the
channels.
In another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an
absorbent article which comprises a liquid impermeable outer cover
having a front section and a rear section, and an elongated
absorbent member having a front end, a rear end and opposite side
edges, and including an absorbent material. The absorbent article
further comprises front and rear support members for respectively
joining the respective front and rear ends of the absorbent member
to the outer cover, so that the absorbent member extends
longitudinally in a suspended manner between the front and rear
sections of the outer cover for spacing the opposite side edges
from the outer cover. One of the front and rear support members is
elastically stretchable and contractable. Preferably, the front
support member may be elastically stretchable and contractable.
In one embodiment of the present invention, both of the front and
rear supports are elastically stretchable and contractable. In a
particular embodiment, the elastically stretchable support member
includes a plurality of parallel slits respectively extending
longitudinally from a longitudinal end thereof to form a plurality
of lips separated by the slits, and each of said lips is secured to
the outer cover by a spot of securement.
Numerous other advantages and features of the present invention
will become readily apparent from the following detailed
description, the appended drawings, and the accompanying
claims.
Brief Description Of The Drawings
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an absorbent article comprising a
disposable diaper embodying the principles of the present
invention;
FIG. 2 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the absorbent
article of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary perspective view of an elastic
support;
FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic, longitudinal cross-sectional view of an
elongated member incorporating absorbent material and elastic
supports;
FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic plan view of an elongated member
comprising an absorbent member and elastic supports;
FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic plan view of an elongated member
illustrating a central cutout in each of the elastic supports;
FIG. 7 is a fragmentary plan view of the elastic support
illustrating a plurality of parallel slits formed therein; and
FIG. 8 is an explanatory view of the elastic support of FIG. 7
illustrating that the slits are caused to open up in responsive to
the stretching of the outer cover.
Detailed Description
While the present invention is susceptible of embodiments in
various forms, there are shown in the drawings and will hereinafter
be described various embodiments of the invention, with the
understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an
exemplification of the invention, and is not intended to limit the
invention to the specific embodiments illustrated and described
herein.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a disposable absorbent article
comprising a disposable diaper in accordance with the present
invention. The absorbent article comprises a liquid impermeable
outer cover 1, an absorbent member 2 supported on the outer cover
1, and one or more elastic elements for connecting at least one of
front and rear ends, preferably the front end, more preferably the
both of front and rear ends of the absorbent member 2 to the outer
cover 1 in a suspended manner. In the illustrated embodiment, the
elastic element comprises a first elastic support 3 for connecting
the front end of the absorbent member 2 to a front section of the
outer cover 1, and a second elastic support 4 for connecting the
rear end of the absorbent member 2 to a rear section of the outer
cover 1. Although the outer cover 1 is illustrated as being an
open-type having a flat configuration, it may be a closed-type
having a pant-like configuration.
The absorbent member 2 may comprise absorbent material which has
been conventionally incorporated in disposable diapers or sanitary
napkins. Alternatively, the absorbent member 2 may comprise a
facing sheet, a backing sheet and absorbent material interposed
between the facing and backing sheets. The absorbent member 2 may
further have a side barrier structure so as to be self-functional
as an absorbent product. The generally rectangular, first elastic
support 3 is at its one end connected to the front end of the
absorbent member 2 by suitable connecting means, such as
heat-sealing. The other end of the first elastic support 3 is
connected to the outer cover 1 at a selected, rectangular region of
securement 3a thereon. Likewise, the second elastic support 4 is at
its one end connected to the rear end of the absorbent member 2,
and is at its other end connected to the outer cover 1 at a
selected, rectangular region of securement 4a on the outer cover
1.
The absorbent member 2 is of rectangular shape, having
substantially the same width as the respective first and second
elastic supports 3, 4 to together define an elongated strip-like
element A. The elongated strip-like element A is suspended and
extends longitudinally between front and rear sections of the outer
cover 1. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the strip-like element A has a
length such that an intermediate length portion thereof is
positioned in a spaced relationship with the outer cover 1. More
specifically, the strip-like element A is supportedly positioned
relative to the outer cover 1 in a hammock-like manner so that the
absorbent member 2 does not contact the outer cover 1. Accordingly,
when the absorbent article is actually applied to the wearer, the
absorbent member 2 is urged toward a crotch area of the wearer's
body for close contact therewith by elastically stretching and
contracting actions of the respective first and second elastic
supports 3,4.
The first and second elastic supports 3,4 respectively elastically
stretch and contract responsive to any movement of the wearer's
body during the application of the absorbent article thereto, so
that an optimum position of the absorbent member 2 is maintained
relative to the wearer's body. This ensures that the absorbent
capacity of the absorbent member 2 can be fully utilized. In a
specific absorbent article construction wherein the outer cover 1
comprises an elastic material, the absorbent article tends to
readily deform as the wearer's body moves. Even in such a
construction, the optimum position of the absorbent member 2 can be
still maintained relative to the wearer's body in accordance with
the present invention. This permits the outer cover 1 to comprise
an elastic material for providing a better feeling during use.
The elastic supports 3, 4 of the present invention may comprise any
suitable elastic material known in the art. Preferably, an elastic
composite sheet as illustrated in FIG. 3 may be employed. The
elastic composite sheet comprises an elastic material sheet 11, and
a non-woven fabric 12 which is secured to at least one surface of
the elastic material sheet 11 continuously in a first direction and
intermittently in a second direction transverse to the first
direction. The securement of these two elements is made along
parallel securement lines 13 spaced from each other. The width of
the non-woven fabric 12 is formed to be greater than that of the
elastic sheet material 11 between adjacent securement lines 13, so
that a plurality of parallel channels 14 are formed between the
elastic material sheet 11 and the non-woven fabric 12. The elastic
composite sheet is capable of stretching to the extent that the
elastic material sheet 11 is extended to the same width as the
non-woven fabric 12. A corrugated configuration of the soft
non-woven fabric 12 further provides a comfortable feeling by
softness to skin.
Suitable materials for the elastic material sheet 11 include a
thin-layered sheet such as of natural or synthetic rubber,
polyurethane film, polyurethane meltblown non-woven fabric,
styrene-butadien block polymer film, or polyolefin elastomer film.
When material cost, and adhesiveness to the non-woven fabric are
taken into consideration, desirable materials include polyolefin
elastomers such as EVA, LLDPE of ultra low density, ethylene
propylene elastomer, ethylene-methylacrylate elastomer, or a
blended combination of any of those polyolefin elastomers with
synthetic rubber or styrene-ethylene-butadien.cndot.styrene block
polymer (SEBS), or a co-extruded film of polyurethane elastomers
and polyolefin elastomers.
FIG. 4 illustrates one embodiment of the elongated, strip-like
element A which integrally incorporates the absorbent member 2 and
the first and second elastic supports 3, 4. The elongated member A
comprises the elastic composite sheet, as shown in FIG. 3, with
absorbent material 15 being placed in the channels 14 of the
elastic composite sheet. In the illustrated particular embodiment,
the channels 15 in a middle portion of the elastic composite sheet
are configured to have a greater cross-sectional area than the
remaining channels for enclosing the absorbent material 15 therein.
The middle portion serves as the absorbent member 12, and end
portions on opposite sides of the middle portions serve as the
elastic supports 3, 4. The absorbent material may preferably
comprise superabsorbent material, such as superabsorbent polymer
which is capable of absorbing a large volume of liquids. The
illustrated elastic composite sheet for the elastic supports 3, 4
has a relatively high stretchability in a direction transverse to
the channel direction, and a relatively low stretchability in the
channel direction which is limited to the stretching
characteristics of the non-woven fabric 15. Accordingly, when the
stretchability of the outer cover 1 is limited, the elastic
composite sheet may have the same width as the absorbent member 2,
and may be joined to the outer cover 1 over its full width as shown
in FIG. 5. However, when the outer cover 1 is made from a highly
stretchable material, a central cutout 5 (FIG. 6) may be preferably
made in each of the first and second elastic supports 3, 4 to form
a reduced area for securement to the outer cover 1, so that the
stretchability of the outer cover 1 is less inhibited. In other
words, the central cutouts 5 of the respective elastic supports 3,
4 serve to maintain the stretchability of the corresponding
portions of the outer cover 1.
Another embodiment for joining at least one of the elastic supports
3, 4 is illustrated in FIG. 7. A plurality of parallel slits 6 are
formed at selected intervals to respectively extend from one end of
the elastic support 3 in a direction transverse to the channel
direction for defining a plurality of lips separated by the
parallel slits 6. Each of the lips is secured to the outer cover 1
by a spot of securement 7. As the outer cover 1 is stretched, each
of slits 6 is accordingly opened up as illustrated in FIG. 8, so
that the outer cover 1 is able to stretch between the adjacent
spots of securement 7. As such, the stretchability of the outer
cover 1 is less inhibited.
From the foregoing, it will be observed that numerous modifications
and variations can be effected without departing from the true
spirit and the scope of the novel concept of the present invention.
It is to be understood that no limitation with respect to the
specific embodiments illustrated herein is intended or should be
inferred. The disclosure is intended to cover by the appended
claims all such modifications as fall within the scope of the
claims.
* * * * *